Israel bars aid convoy to Gaza

The Israeli military has prevented an aid convoy organised by Israeli human rights organisations, peace activists, and former military personnel, from reaching needy families in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israeli groups braved dipping temperatures and the unusually rain-sodden grounds of the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Saturday, hoping that Israeli authorities would allow five tonnes of food through.

As of Monday, the Gaza-bound supplies, comprising non-perishable goods, are still warehoused at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom on the southern border of the Gaza strip, awaiting army clearance to cross into the strip.

Adam Keller, of Gush Shalom, an Israel-Palestine peace bloc, said: "We are still in negotiations with the army and are trying to mobilise Knesset members. We have an appeal to the supreme court that is ready to be lodged. We hope it will not come to that, but will use it if necessary."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BE7095BF-0E93-4AAB-A2CA-42B17264D16A.htm

you posted yours while i was posting mine.

all that effort for nothin'...

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BE7095BF-0E93-4AAB-A2CA-42B17264D16A.htm

_________________________________

This is an example of Israeli/Palestinian mutual support that the Israeli regime finds so threatening to the status quo. This is what many here support, real solidarity to end the occupation and the violence of that occupation and the terrible violence that results from keeping a people oppressed.

I also don't think we should mince words about what Israel policy really comes down to. It is a slow but deliberate genocide. Don't take my word for it, listen to International Law expert Richard Falk, written last June when the siege was less severe. (I would love to see an update on this essay!)


http://www.transnational.org/Area_MiddleEast/2007/Falk_PalestineGenocide.html/url

Don't say you didn't know!

the idea is to punish and terrorize a civilian population to extract political concessions. What else could it be called by terrorism?

What is happening in Gaza is NOT genocide, no matter how many times you try to post articles pretending it is. If the Israelis wanted to really practice genocide, they could do a much better job of it. As it is, the Palestinian population is growing exponentially, so let's cease with the word "genocide".

I trust his judgment more than yours.
He does have credentials. He is an expert in international law.

Depriving a population of essentials for healthy living, and subjecting them to punitive sanctions that imperil their health, is indeed a form of genocide.

but i am more concerned with people calling off this unlawful and insane policy than what word they use for it.

The Convoy: Monday passed, the goods did not
Time for protests

Saturday the army representatives at the Erez checkpoint indicated that Monday our truckloads of relief would go through. We didn't rely on this vague promise too much but gave it the benefit of the doubt. After all, we also heard from KM Dov Kheinin (Hadash) that PM Olmert had told him personally that our relief would be let through.

Meanwhile, Monday passed and the goods did not go through.

While we are still in negotiations with the army and busy mobilizing Knesset members we would very much want activists abroad to strengthen the demand of "Let the convoy pass."

We also prepared an appeal to the Supreme Court, but still hope to save the money it would cost and instead buy more water filters and add these to the convoy. But if all other means would fail we are prepared to go to court.

You can help in the campaign in many ways, by organizing protests but let's start already by phoning, faxing and emailing. You may use the following sample letter or make a text of your own.

1) To Prime Minister Ehud Olmert through the PM's Press office:

E-Mail: gpo@pmo.gov.il , eulmert@knesset.gov.il, PM_ENG1@it.pmo.gov.il (please, send to all)

Fax: +972-2-6233388 (NB: Fax is more likely to be noticed than an email message)
Sample letter
Dear Sir

I am writing to urge you to authorize without further hindrance the entry into the Gaza Strip of the humanitarian goods carried in the convoy of Saturday 26, 2008, and held up near the Gaza Strip border ever since then. The goods held up consist of sacks of flour, rice and other basic food-stuffs, purchased with donations from Israel and all over the world*; of water filters, likewise purchased by donations, which are desperately needed due to the extreme pollution of Gaza's water supply; and of parcels and packages which Israeli families bought as a gesture of goodwill to families in Gaza. All these goods are urgently needed in Gaza, and the passage of none could in any conceivable way endanger Israel's security in any way. The continued holding up of these goods, as well as the continuation closing of passage of vital goods into Gaza in general, is a shame which must be ended.

Sincerely Yours,

Uri Avnery, of Gush Shalom, in an earlier statement said: "Our hearts and minds are with our Palestinian brothers who are at this moment demonstrating with us on the other side of the fence – Don't lose faith that one day we will meet together in this place without fences, without walls, without firepower, without violence, the sons of two peoples living next to each other in peace, in friendship, in partnership."

In my more optimistic moods, I like to think he's right.

The day will not be hastened by the actions of extremists on either side - or in my view by the tossing about of words like 'genocide'.

I am sure Avnery strongly opposes Israel's denial of access of services to Gaza; but I seriously doubt that he calls it 'genocide'.

hundreds of thousands of children will not be adequately fed?
It must me at least a crime against humanity.


If you disagree with the term genocide, perhaps you should write an email to Richard Falk.

Genocide is a legal term.



Do you have any evidence that it is official Israeli policy to intentionally destroy the Palestinian or Arab or Muslim people?

"Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;"

Human Rights and humanitarian organizations are reporting widespread malnutrition among the children of Gaza. This is a direct result of Israeli sanctions, and indeed, the purpose of the sanctions was to make sure that Gazans become hungry. As Livni has asserted, she believes that life in Gaza should not be "normal".

So we have 20-30% of Gaza children suffering malnutrition. The effects of childhood malnutrition can last forever.

This is just the beginning of the crimes Israel is committing in Gaza.

You didn't provide any. Sanctions on an enemy state that you are currently in conflict with doesn't constitute genocide.

So, do you have any evidence that it is official Israeli policy to intentionally destroy the Palestinian or Arab or Muslim people?

Like the poster said. It's a legal term. Saying that Israel is starving the children of Gaza is not a legal statement. If you want to say Israel is breaking some International Law you have to show which law and why it applies. You have not done that.

phrase used in International Law to describe retaliatory action taken by one foreign government against another for the stringent or harsh regulation or treatment of its citizens who are within the geographical boundaries of the foreign country.

The typical methods of retorsion are the use of comparably severe measures against citizens of the foreign nation found within the borders of the retaliating nation.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/retorsion

http://www.bartleby.com/61/51/R0195100.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/retorsion?cat=biz-fin*

*the second definition in this one states it is American law only, it is the only one to state this

http://www.yourdictionary.com/retorsion

http://law.jrank.org/pages/9850/Retorsion.html

The only one that I found that stated mere retaliation was of course wiki

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/retorsion

Like the poster said. It's a legal term. Saying that Israel is starving the children of Gaza is not a legal statement. If you want to say Israel is breaking some International Law you have to show which law and why it applies. You have not done that.

Forced sterilisations and taking children from their mothers don't have legal definitions, yet they're still indicators that genocide could be happening. While genocide itself has a legal definition, things that make it a genocide don't, and if someone were to apply that '..is not a legal statement' to all genocides, there'd be nothing left that could be defined as genocide...

As for Israel violating international law, while of course it's not committing genocide, it is violating other bits of international law. I can do a list for you if yr actually interested, but as the list might be a bit longish, I don't want to waste my time if you aren't interested in seeing it...

. . why are no international bodies indicting Israel in some international war crimes venue over this "siege" - rather than only on websites and in meaningless UN resolutions? How about ISM or HRW? Their charters call for them to follow up on human rights violations?

As far as any list of violations . . to actually make your point you'd need a list of convictions.

So Palestinian groups who carried out suicide bombings didn't violate international law as they weren't convicted by an international body of committing war crimes. The US led invasion of Iraq didn't involve violations of international law, nor is anything happening in the Sudan, coz according to yr argument if there were violations of international law, they'd be convicted by an international body of it....

Unless I'm mistaken HRW do state that the blockade of Gaza is a violation of international law as it's a form of collective punishment.

'NEW YORK (AFP) — Israel's blockade of Gaza denies 1.4 million Palestinians the food, fuel and medicine they need to survive, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, calling it collective punishment and a violation of international law.'

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j1Q6pGXD0-KgmKReLAwAzK3kgAcg

I've never seen an HRW Charter, but on their website they do have an 'About Us' thing where they explain what they do and why they do it. Their role is to highlight violations of international law, and in bringing public attention to it to try to embarress the perpetrators into changing their actions and/or policy. I'm not sure what else you think they should be doing, or why...

I try to respond to all reasonable posts but I can't figure out what your point is. Please clearly restate one point and your support for it. I'll respond if you can do that.

I've been as clear as anyone could be. Of course it's clear that any time yr shown to be wrong you drag out the accusations of incoherence in order to avoid any reasonable discussion, so all I can suggest is you get someone else who doesn't mind wasting their time to try to explain it to you...

. . in there someplace, if someone says they don't get it, you'd have no trouble restating it in clearer terms.

The point is - you don't have one. Yet another snarky post is not a point.

...I might actually give you the benefit of the doubt...

I see. Jumping in and accusing someone of being incoherent isn't snarky? Have you considered trying to express yrself in a less abusive way?

This is fun for a little while but then the boredom sets in. Bye bye.

The abusive nature of yr posts or the tactic of pretending not to comprehend clear replies?

I'll give you a chance here. If you want to be taken seriously, go back and read my reply to yr *question* about violations of international law and then come back and explain what bit yr not understanding and I'll try to clarify it for you....

Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

Starvation by deliberately inflicting on the Gazans conditions of life calculated to bring about it's physical destruction in whole or in part.

Genocide

'What do you call making sure that thousands of children will not be adequately fed?'

The current worldwide economic policy - which I strongly oppose!

ETA: As a matter of fact, I do not support the current Israeli - and Egyptian - sanctions against Gaza. I also don't support rocket attacks against Israeli citizens. I also don't support internal violence between the factions in Gaza. I don't call any of these 'genocide'. I call what's happening in Darfur genocide.

World economic policy does cause hunger. The goal of the policy is to keep the very rich, very rich, with no regard to those who are poor.

But there are not many places where aid convoys to alleviate that hunger will be barred by military force. That constitutes a war crime.

Shall we talk about aid getting into other places where there is a real genocide, like Darfur? Many (most) humanitarian aid workers won't or can't even go in, as they are attacked and sometimes killed. Many of those suffering people have not received an iota of assistance in months and months, particularly in areas that are more remote.

To act as if this is the only place where aid convoys don't go to alleviate hunger is positively disingenuous.

i said there are not many places where aid is prohibited from passing, by military force. I did not say there are no other places. Where ever this happens is a crime.

Please, please, adjust your browser so that you can read.

. . into and out of Israel. That includes any kind of aid to Gaza.

Every state has that right and exercising it does not constitute any kind of crime, much less a war crime.

It wouldn't be so bad if they just blocked their land border but Israel has destroyed the Gaza airport and maintains a blockade on sea access.

I thought collective punishment was banned?

Shir Shudzik, 17, described the trauma of living under rocket fire for the past seven years.

But then she said: "I know that I'm not alone in this situation, that people are suffering even more on the other side."

Shudzik said she does not trust either Hamas or the Israel government to bring peace.

"But the fact that we are here together, Arabs and Jews, might be a beginning and it brings me hope," she said.

<snip>

"There is a problem' said the elderly woman who phoned urgently on the day before we set out. “The food which I and my husband bought for the Gaza Convoy is too much to be put into one box. But if we divide it in two, the Palestinian families who get each box will feel that Israelis are very niggardly. And the shops are already closed, we can’t buy more. What shall we do?”

This Tel Aviv couple was among the very many people, in Israel as all over the world, touched last week by the plight of Gaza and trying to do something about it – preparing personal aid packages, distributing leaflets at street corners and on university campuses, working feverishly deep into the night to take care of numerous logistical hitches in the preparations for the convoy, sending a stream of donations from all over the world, picketing Israeli embassies and convoys with signs reading “Let the Convoy Pass!”.

After many months in which it had festered, virtually unnoticed by the world at large (though full reports were available on the net for any who cared to look), the Siege of Gaza has suddenly burst into the headlines and the TV screens. A new situation was created by the decision of Defence Minister Barak to make an already terrible situation completely intolerable by altogether closing down the border passes, Gaza’s fragile lifeline. In desperation the Palestinians have taken the step which is often urged on them, not always in good faith - i.e. to undertake mass non-violent action a la Mahatma Gandhi…

In fact, a relief convoy had been in stages of preparation already for several weeks before these stirring events. The initiative started in late December, when Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj - the well-known Gazan psychiatrist and human rights activist - got a permit to enter Israel. This provided a rare opportunity for him to meet with Israeli peace activists, hosted at the Gush Shalom office. He told at length about the increasingly desperate hardships of daily life in the Strip. It was quite unacceptable to hear all that and just nod our heads in sadness. On the spot, it was decided to organize a relief convoy for Gaza - providing both some real, concrete aid, and also a powerful symbolic gesture - and to struggle by all political and juridical means for the right to get the supplies into the Strip. Further, the arrival of the convoy at the border of the Strip would be marked by two parallel protest rallies, to be held simultaneously on the two sides of the impassable border.

more

January 28, 2008

Last week, thousands of people responded to calls to end Israel’s siege of Gaza by contacting their Members of Congress and the White House. Over the weekend, dozens of protests, vigils, and interfaith services took place all over the United States demanding an end to Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza.

Your solidarity with the people of Gaza is making a difference. Some Members of Congress have joined the chorus of voices demanding the United States pressure Israel to end the siege on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis that it is causing.

In a sharply-worded letter initiated by Rep. Dennis Kucinich and sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 23, eleven Members of Congress called on the United States to exert its “influence to urge Israel to end its blockade of Gaza.”

The letter details the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s siege of Gaza and states that “collective punishment is never a tolerable response from Israel, nor should the United States excuse it.” These Members of Congress term Israel’s blockade of Gaza “illegal” and chastise the Administration for blocking a UN Security Council Resolution condemning the siege. They state that “The Administration has the responsibility and the authority to ensure that Israel comply with international law and protect the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza.”

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

It is exceedingly rare for Members of Congress to come out so unequivocally and forcefully in support of Palestinian human rights and for holding Israel accountable to the standards of international law. That is why it is extremely important for you to take a minute right now to send a letter of thanks to these Members of Congress below.

These Members of Congress need to know that thousands of people in the United States appreciate their bold statement, so please take a minute to thank them below.

Alphabetical List of Signatories

* Neil Abercrombie (HI)
* John Conyers, Jr. (MI)
* Danny Davis (IL)
* Sam Farr (CA)
* Raul Grijalva (AZ)
* Maurice Hinchey (NY)
* Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX)
* Dennis Kucinich (OH)
* Betty McCollum (MN)
* Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
* James Oberstar (MN)

Don’t forget to send these Members of Congress a letter of thanks because you know that supporters of Israel’s human rights abuses will be bombarding these offices to protest. Take action now below.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/t/2439/thankYou.jsp?campaign_KEY=22531&key=3960420

including mine and a bit surprised there was not a third, that being Keith Ellison although that may have too risky a move and could have been used to smear the entire action.

The Gaza blockade has been broken

The Qassams and the incursions go on.

Only one solution remains:

To speak with Hamas!

To achieve a cease fire!

To open the border crossings!
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/weekly_ad/1201255513/

This is their weekly ad that they run in Haaretz

The week after Jan. 26 – day after day intense lobbying in the Knesset, towards ministries, by phone, fax and in person & a lot of protest mails from all streaks of the globe.

And … it worked: today Adv. Orna Cohen of Adallah received by fax a permit for the convoy goods to enter Gaza. Yakov Manor is now coordinating on behalf of the Convoy Coalition with the army day and hour..

(From Gush Shalom)